Analysis

Civil Liberty in Belarus

Freedom House has catagorize Belarus into "unfree" among the countries. People in Belarus received limited information from the outside world. As a result, they are more conservative and hardly can accept new ideas due to the atmosphere of a closed-society. This can be shown in the presence of LGBT NGOs and mass media.

1. Strict control on LGBT NGOs

Officially there are no LGBT organizations in Belarus
Belarusian LGBT organizations have never been registered by the state. In the last few years, almost all critical LGBT organizatoins in Belarus have been systematically silenced by a series of repressive laws and regulations. The government label activities of LGBT groups as illegal attempts to discredit or harm the Belarusian state, since the state is homophobia.
None of Belarusian LGBT groups have any legal status to organize activities to strive for rights of LGBT. In the criminal code of Belarus 193-1, if anyone launch activities or organizations without recognition from the government and registration, a fine and six month imprisonment may be the results. Even worse, the punishment can be up to 5-year imprisonment (LGBT Human Rights Project GayBelarus 2009). Financing or material support of such activity can lead to a jail term of up to 2 years (Article 342) (Bureau of the Assembly 2011).

Interview with Belarus gay activist

(ii) LGBT organizations receive no civil society support:
Members of LGB groups have been targeted as hate crime victims many times. There are homophoboes attacked the gays' peaceful action: They hold a protest rally against the holding of gay-parade. For example, they screamed out homophobic slogans:" Death to homosexuals!"

2. No freedom of expression in mass media

The majority of Belarusioan media market is owned by the state. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Belarus 151st out of 175 countries in its 2009 press freedom index (BBC 2012). It is rare for media to public LGBT issues by state-ownedand independent organizations. Pro-governmental media expresses negative views about homosexuals. In 2002, serval Belarusian media outlets published a press release of Youth Front which contained homophobia statements and humiliating notes about gays (LGBT Human Rights Project GayBelarus 2012).

Press:
The only specialised magazine for the LGBT community was published by Lambda Belarus in Russia and disseminated in Belarus. This magazine had been banned serval times by the State Publishing Committee.

Internet::
There are also internet censorship in Belarus. Access to sites related to LGBT community is banned in certain area.
Beltelecom , the only operator licensed to provide commercial VoIP services in Belarus, banned gay sites in Belarus.